Franky Zapata kom seg over Kanalen - CNN

French inventor flies across Channel on hoverboard

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN

Updated 0843 GMT (1643 HKT) August 4, 2019

Source: CNN

Zapata soars over Bastille Day celebrations on flying board. 00:32

(CNN)French inventor Franky Zapata has successfully crossed the Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard for the first time, after a failed attempt last month.

Zapata took off from Sangatte, northern France early on Sunday morning and landed in St. Margarets Bay, near Dover in England. The journey took just over 20 minutes, according to Reuters news agency.

"I had the chance to land in an extraordinary place. It's beautiful. My first thought was to my family. It was huge. Thanks to my wife who always supports me in crazy projects. We worked very hard," he told CNN affiliate BFMTV.

Franky Zapata flies past the Calais city hall on Sunday after starting his Channel crossing attempt.

The inventor said that he tried to "take pleasure in not thinking about the pain," even though "his thighs were burning."

Zapata, a former jet ski racing champion, took to the skies in July on his Flyboard Air vehicle but missed a platform mounted on a boat as he tried to land midway for refueling. The 40-year-old was uninjured in the fall into the sea, and said that he worked "15 to 16 hours a day to rebuild the machine."

The inventor captured the world's imagination when he took to the skies above Paris at Bastille Day parade in July with the board that can reach an altitude of nearly 500 feet -- with the potential to go much higher -- and a speed of 87mph.

In an interview after he completed his journey across the Channel, Zapata said that for his next challenge he was working on a flying car and had signed contracts, but for now he "was tired" and "wants a vacation," he told BFMTV.